Here is news that should make parents stop and think before they spend their money on educational TV and CDs: watching TV actually hampers babies’ language development.

Now the babies in this study apparently lived in homes where the TV was on all the time, whether or not somebody was watching. While this confirms something a lot of parents and teachers have known intuitively (too much TV is bad for your mind), there still seems to be huge number of people who firmly believe in the benefit of these things. I was constantly being advised to get these educational CDs for my son when he was late talking.

Of course, there are good programs on TV and CDs that are really educational, but they are not many and parents should sit with their children when they watch TV.

Read more about how important it is to regulate how your child watches TV:

1. Link between asthma and TV watching

2.  Food ads during kids’ TV shows make them eat more junk food

and about how children learn to communicate:

3. Speech and language disorders in children

4. Children learn language from their classmates

5. Deaf children create their own sign language

We should not be quick to put the LD/ADHD label on our children. Sometimes it is just bad teaching, and sometimes there are physical problems which cause these symptoms.

I thought about this when I saw this news item on how sleep problems and ADHD often go together.

For one thing, children with these labels do better when they are taught in smaller groups with more multisensory aids and interesting material (than our normal school textbooks which you can use as sleeping aids). They also do better with practical activities, sometimes better than ‘normal’ children. Even ADHD/LD advocates admit that, even though Then it does not seem a disability but rather a different kind of ability.

Also, all this talk about childhood mental disorders hides the fact that so many physical problems can cause the same symptoms. Every responsible doctor should do a full physical screening before putting a label on a child. Thyroid disorders, sleeping problems, and over-sensitive and under-sensitive sight or hearing can cause children to have problems learning in a regular classroom and trouble getting along – all symptoms of LDs and ADHD. (Among other things).

Take this quiz on ADHD to find out how much you really know about it.

The ADHD quiz.

Read more about ADHD and LDs here:

1. ADHD and sleep problems

2. ADHD, LDs, and hypertension

3. ADHD propensity helps people in nomadic environments

The other day when I was in a pub with my friends I saw a couple of women in fairly advanced stage of pregnancy gulping down beer after beer with full abandon. I was shocked and almost felt like going up to them and giving them a little shake and informing them how it could affect their newborn. I only prayed that this was one off drinking episodes with these ladies.

Women who are pregnant should understand that alcohol use or rather abuse can lead to mental retardation and birth defects. Besides this it can cause increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, and also stillbirth.

Drinking alcohol when you are pregnant can cause serious defects in the baby called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Babies with FAS have may have:

1)    face deformities: small heads, small upturned noses, small eyes, uncoordinated eyes, webbing between eyes and nose, drooping eyelids, etc.
2)    organ and skeletal deformities: kidney and heart abnormalities, genital malformations, etc.
3)    neurological handicaps: retardation, poor memory, poor language skills, poor coordination, attention deficit, etc.
4)    developmental problems: small stature, failure to ‘catch up’, delayed milestones, etc.
5)    behavioral problems: anxiety, social withdrawal, etc.

Doctors usually advice a woman who even planning to be pregnant to avoid all alcohol and alcoholic beverages.

Alcohol abuse in pregnancy may affect some babies more and other babies less, and we don’t know yet why this happens. Even if a baby appears healthy, he will have problems getting along with people, paying attention, and other behavioral issues if his mother drank alcohol when she was pregnant with him.

Remember: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a serious birth defect, but it is 100% preventable.

Do you drink but think that you are not addicted? Take this test:

Self-screening for alcohol

Read More

1. About the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

2. South African children ravaged by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

3. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause future cognitive problems for your baby

Some more on autism and how attitude and teaching matter.

To take a small example – autistic children rarely look at others in the eye. To get them to look at you, teachers and therapists may suggest exercises like making the room dark by turning off all the lights and then shining a flashlight into your eyes.

I tried this out and yes, it does seem to work. But then an autistic child is also more likely to make eye contact with someone who is friendly with him, affectionate, smiling, and in a good mood.

Go to any special school for autistic children, and you will notice that children of mothers who are cheerful seem to be happier than other children and learn better too. Are the mothers happy because their children are better or are the children better because the mothers are happy?

Psychologists and psychiatrists may debate but I wish every parent and teacher with autistic children would remember that they, like all other children, do much better when the adults in their lives have a positive attitude about them and accept them and respect their differences.

It bothers me how so much of the literature on autism and other lesser problems like ADD and ADHD  concentrate on, basically, how the neurons ‘misfire’ in the brain.

Read more about:

1. What is autism?

2. The drug Lupron – doctors say it is unsuitable for autism.

3. A portable communication system for autistic children

I have son with features of autism, and the news article how the brain processes speech caught my eye. The latest research on autism is ties it to faulty parts of the brain, in layman’s terms, and ‘sensory imbalances’ (it means autistic people seem to have over- or under-sensitive senses of sound, sight, and touch).

But then there is research again showing how training and practice can change the brain – the most well known is probably one showing how taxi drivers have bigger hippocampus compared to others. This is the part of the brain that helps us navigate around a space.

The notion that autism is all faulty wiring in the brain implies that you can do nothing about ‘such children’, and this troubles me. While doctors and professionals use it to educate people that you should not blame autism on parents and faulty upbringing (which is good), it brands children who have difficulty communicating. It comforts parents with overwhelming guilt, but I am not sure how much it helps the children.

The fact is you can teach ‘autistic’ children. I am no expert on brains and the neural pathways of speech, but training (not just drugs) can change brains. Doctors acknowledge this, and parents and teachers of children with special needs should remember it.

Some more irrational human behavior again: binge-drinking college students (see today’s news about binge-drinking in the UK).

It’s getting more common right here in my conservative home city Chennai. Before I went to college I thought it happened only in faraway decadent countries, and I had never seen a drunk person.

After having seen more than I care to remember, I can understand even less why people should drink, and I have definitely become more conservative  (I used to think in my school days it’s okay to drink if you know when to stop). Now my advise is: don’t drink and stay away from people who drink.

The fact is, I have not seen many who know where to stop. What did my ‘friends’ who drink gain from it? One got expelled for being found drunk in college premises, another threw up and had friends who were forced to clean up complain bitterly to everyone they knew. Later, a good friend lost a husband when she was just 22. He and a friend had been drinking at a party all night before they drove home in early morning, and the car crashed.

No, I don’t understand why smart, educated, informed young people with a bright future ahead of them should ever drink.

None of these hapless friends of mine thought they had a drinking problem till they got into really serious trouble. Maybe you think your drinking is under control too? Use this calculator to see if you are drinking more than is good for you (and for people around you):

Alcohol screening test

Read more about the dangers of drinking here:

1.  Drinking more can lead to depression

2. Alcohol-related injuries

3.  Binge-drinking and the teen brain

4. Drinking increases risk of dementia

Besides ads for tobacco and cigarettes (read today’s news about how tobacco companies duped cigarette smokers with claims about ‘light’ cigarettes), remember this when you see ads for potato chips and all kinds of snacks, candy, medicines for colds and headaches, and baby foods.

Consider baby foods. Of course, it’s illegal to advertise any kind of baby food for children under two years old in India. But where there is money to be made and a will to sell, marketers will find a way.

Even though you cannot see advertisements for baby formula and Cerelac and other foods on TV and print media, most people – even educated people who should know better – seem to believe that they are in fact more ‘nutritious’ than ‘gentle’ than homemade foods. Baby formulas like Nan use the picture of a baby bird and it mother because it is illegal to use the picture of a healthy human baby and happy mother to sell baby food for children under two.

Baby food marketers also use attractive packaging and ‘free information’, sponsorships and ‘chance’ mentions in other media to create an aura that their products are better than anything a mother can easily provide from home. Cigarette companies regularly sponsor sporting events (for example, Benson and Hedges sponsor cricket).

I consider myself intelligent and immune to ads for any form of tobacco, but I have to confess that I am one of the dupees where baby food is concerned. I fed my son rather a lot of commercial baby food before I realized the error of my ways.

High heels particularly the stiletto type have been the symbol of sexy legs to men.  However umpteen number of reports in the literature have shown that they can be bad for posture  and the back. They are also responsible for all kind of problems and deformity related to toes.

A new report from Italy however has given woman wearing high heels good  reason to celebrate. The study indicates that wearing high heels also means good sex.  And why is this so – the explanation provided by them is that high heels makes the muscles of pelvis strong.  Standing on stilettos or on the tip toes does require some amount of balancing and this results in the muscles of pelvis getting stronger.  The group of these muscles enclose three important structures – urinary pipe (urethra), Vaginal passage  and the anal passage.  The ballet dancers and the  gymnasts are a classical example and most of them are very strong and supple around d their pelvis and hips.

Good muscular support work wonders during intercourse as the women is able to  contract and relax better and hence the thrust from a man is better controlled and enjoyed by the woman whether she is on top or in the missionary position. Dr Maria Cerruto, of the University of Verona, Italy, did a study  with 66 women under 50 about their sex lives, exercise regime and shoes. She reports that wearing a pair of ‘moderately high heeled shoes’ had beneficial effects for a woman’s sex life.  She adds – ‘‘Wearing heels during daily activity may reduce the need for the pelvic floor exercises necessary to keep that part of a woman’s anatomy toned and elastic.’’

Exercise of muscles of pelvic zone can also help a woman to “hold her water better.”  Apparently 25 to 33% of women worldwide leak urine and pelvic floor toning can help in overcoming these embarrassing moments.

The next time you are choosing your stilettos and someone objects you can use this argument with a wink, in your favour if you like.

Related links

Orgasm – Myths and Facts

Top Ten tips for the Perfect Orgasm

Heels Boost Women’s Sex Life: Study

Shoe Size Conversion Calculator

These nutrition facts about apples make them a wonderful summer – and all-year-round – food:
• Apples are 85% water by weight and they are good to have when you are tired or sick. The pectin (a soluble fibre) in apple helps make your stools firm when you have diarrhea. Pectin has this effect because it dissolves in water to form a gel.

• Apples also give you energy from the fructose, or fruit sugar, they contain.

• Apples are a good source (technical meaning: they provide up to 25% of the required daily allowance) of fiber and Vitamin C. They also have some carbohydrate, very little fat, and small quantities of minerals like calcium and iron.

• Apples have antioxidants that fight cancer, allergies like asthma and even lung disease. One study found smokers who ate apples every day were less likely to develop bronchitis. Fuji apples especially have more antioxidants than other apples.

To get the most out of apples, select well-ripened fruits with good coloring. If they are organic apples, eat the skin because the skin contains most of the antioxidants and other nutrients. Cooking destroys some of the antioxidants and minerals, so eat them uncooked. If you juice them, don’t discard the pulp: pulpy juice is more nutritious than clear apple juice.

And last, but hardly the least, apples will stay sweet and firm and fresh in your lunch box or in your bag. Take them for those in-between times when you feel like a bite.

Read more about apples here:

1. Apples are a superfood

2. Eat apples when you are pregnant to lower your baby’s risk of asthma

3. Apples prevent colon cancer

4. Apples reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes

Let’s talk about what nutrients you can get in a watermelon today – continuing on the theme of the importance of keeping yourself hydrated.

The nutritional value of a typical watermelon comes mainly from the water it contains. Which means it’s a good fruit to have lots of this summer. It also has potassium, which is important for people who are dehydrated because they lose potassium fast (lack of potassium causes the muscle cramps dehydrated people sometimes experience).

Besides, you also a bigger wallop of lycopene (the antioxidant pigment which makes watermelons and tomatoes red) from watermelons than you get from tomatoes. Lycopene from watermelons is more easily absorbed than from tomatoes (which need to be cooked to make the lycopene available). Lycopene protects you from cancer and heart disease.

It also has Vitamins A, C, and B6.

So go get that watermelon and eat it, or juice it and drink it. Enjoy!

Learn more about the watermelon! Go to:

1. Interesting facts about the watermelon

2. Watermelon juice

3. Watermelon for beauty

4. Watermelon – an aphrodisiac

It’s summer again, and a lot of us need to be reminded that it is vital to keep drinking fluids that rehydrate you, and not just water. In fact, the essence of oral rehydration therapy is replacing the salt as well as the water the body loses when it is very hot, or because of vomiting or diarrhea. Remember this if you exercise a lot, or work in hot places, or have to be in the sun, or have small children you need to keep hydrated.

This is why it is vital to drink not just plain water but other rehydrating fluids – unsweetened fruit juices, buttermilk, coconut water, soups, diluted gruels, rice water (conjee), and weak tea can effectively hydrate the body. For babies, breast milk works best.

You can also go for oral rehydration solutions that you find in any pharmacy.  If you want to make this at home, the formula is one liter of water with one level teaspoon of salt and eight level teaspoons of sugar. Add fruit juices to make the solution tastier and more nutritious.

Too much plain water is not good for someone with heat exhaustion, watery diarrhea, or vomiting who is rapidly losing or has lost a lot of body fluids. It can lead to a condition called water intoxication or hyponatremia when a dehydrated person drinks a lot of water but does not replace the electrolytes he has lost. Essentially, the cells – of the brain, heart, lungs – absorb the water and swell. The effect can be fatal.

So be careful to stay hydrated by drinking fluids that replace water and body salts.

Want to know more about the dangers of dehydration? Go to:

1. Assessing dehydration in children with diarrhea

2. Treating dehydration in children with diarrhea

3. Amy Winehouse hospitalized for dehydration

4. Dangers of dehydration when you travel

Before the importance of washing hands was discovered, you were gambling with you life if you admitted yourself to a hospital. No one did this under they were poor or desperate or both. Almost 20% of the women who went to a hospital to give birth died, especially if it was a teaching hospital for doctors.

The credit for discovering the importance of hand washing goes to Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor who worked at a clinic for women in Vienna in the mid-1800s. Semmelweis noticed, like many others did, that women who were treated by midwives during childbirth were much more likely to survive than those treated by medical students or their professors. He noted something more: medical students went to examine these unfortunate women straight from dissecting dead bodies. Without washing their hands – possibly just wiping them off on their coats.

When Semmelweis made it a policy that that doctors and students wash their hands in a chlorinated solution before they visited the women, the death rate dropped ten-fold – from 18.3% in April 1847 to 1.2% that July.

Now everybody knows that washing your hands properly is the single most important thing you can do to stop the spread of disease. It works for the deadly MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infections, which tends to spread in hospitals. It is also works for swine flu – you will find it in every thing you read about how to protect yourself from the swine-flu virus.

Washing hands works only if you do it properly. The US Center for Disease Control recommends that you wash your hands with soap and clean running water in these steps.

1. Wet your hands
2. Rub them with soap
3. Work up a rich lather and rub every part of your hands. Do this for at least 20 seconds, or as long as it takes to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice.
4. Wash off all the soap in clean water.
5. Wipe your hands with disposable tissue and throw it away. Or you can use a blow dryer.
6. If possible don’t touch the tap after washing and use a disposable tissue to turn it off.

If there is no clean water or soap or tissue around, use an alcohol-based solution. Most hand-hygiene products in the market work fine so long as they contain alcohol (check for this). Take a sufficient amount in the center of your palm and rub it all over both your hands till your hands feel dry.

Remember, washing hands can protect you and others from swine flu and lots of other illnesses too.

Want to know more about hygiene and washing hands? Go to:

1. Personal hygiene can ward off swine flu: Indian expert

2. Hand washing can significantly reduce episodes of diarrhea

3. News: New low-cost method to monitor hand hygiene

4. News: World hand-washing day to be launched by UNICEF

Shampoos, conditioners and hair loss prevention creams are being launched in our market almost every other day. Each claiming to be superior then the other. Each claims to cure conditions such as dandruff.  Despite all the hype there is still no cure for this relatively benign but annoying condition. In the long run it can cause hair-loss.

Speaking about hair loss what information do we need to understand about this condition that is medically called  alopecia. Medindia often gets questions related to this topic. Do not get carried away by all the advertisement that claim to restore your lost hair. Some of these advertised products are extremely expensive and can burn a hole in your pocket. Before investing understand the condition and go through our different resources related to hair-loss.

The term ‘Alopecia’ comes from the Greek alopekia, which means fox-mange.

Alopecia is mostly hereditary condition and is normal in some individuals. For men, it typically starts from the forehead and the hair loss continues to recedes further back  till only a horseshoe-shaped fringe is left on the sides. For women, there is more diffuse  hair loss throughout the scalp, but they seldom  get bald.

Some of the hair loss is not necessarily genetic, and needs to be investigated by a doctor. Hair loss in patches (alopecia areata) and hair loss all over the body (alopecia universalis) are thought to be caused by an autoimmune disorder. Skin diseases, excessive hair treatments, and habits like wearing the hair pulled tight and pulling out hair are also known to cause severe hair loss in children and adults.

Doctors treat hair loss with medicines like Minoxidil and Finasteride (generic names) and surgery, and many herbal and alternative treatments are also available. If they don’t work, there are wigs and hair pieces of all colors and styles. If you are young and losing hair, doing your research and being proactive about your problem will help you find solutions and feel better.

To know more about alopecia, go to:

1. Sporting the Naked Pate: On Hair Loss and Balding
2. Hair Loss in Women
3. News: New drug may stop alopecia
4. News: Study says common treatments for patchy hair loss are useless
5. News: Smoking related to age-related hair loss in men

Pubbing and drinking is becoming fashionable among the young in our country. It is one of the ‘cool’ done things.  While it is one thing to have an occasional drink and celebrate an occasion, it is dangerous to drink every day. It soon becomes addictive and starts damaging your health. In India 70% of its population is below the age of 35 years. The current elections have meant many youngsters getting involved in campaigning process and in the evening celebrating the day with a drink one too many. More so if it is at the party’s expense.

Some alcohol and youth facts:

1. Every year, 5000 young people (12-20 years of age) in the United States die because of alcohol-related traffic accidents, drowning, and fires.
2. Someone who starts drinking before the age of 15 is more likely to have academic problems, drop out of school, engage in risky and delinquent behavior, and be unemployed and dependent on alcohol as an adult.
3. Young people who drink are more likely to be victims of sexual assault and date rape.

The legal drinking age is 21 in the United States, and 25 in India. If you drink before the legal age, you risk your job, your driver’s license, and expulsion from school or college.

So, young people, say “No” when your friends offer you a drink. You will impress them more by making the right choice and standing for it than by giving in to peer pressure.

Parents should be vigilant about their children and alcohol, especially in bigger cities and communities where drinking is considered fashionable. A good relationship with your child, modeling sensible drinking habits, and making sure your child is informed and able to resist peer pressure will protect  your child from this deadly addiction.

Read more about alcohol and health in these articles:

1. Alcohol

2. Alcohol abuse

3. Alcohol and driving

4. Alcohol and drug abuse

5. Alcohol abstinence key to survive liver cirrhosis

6. Hangover causing chemical in alcohol can lead to cancer too

“Sexual favors” allegedly sought from sex workers by some South African policemen in return for their release, is making news because of activists who are raising their voice against policemen blatantly violating basic human and constitutional rights of a very vulnerable group of women.

Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) deserves praise for highlighting the “fear enforcement” of some policemen instead of law enforcement –as is the case with many policemen in different parts of the world. Sex workers in India would be surprised that the policemen in South Africa are actually “asking” for sexual favors. Because here the courtesy is often dispensed with. Sex workers who have been come out boldly to talk through books and magazines, say policemen constantly force them into sex wielding arrest as a threat.

Nalini Jameela who boldly exposed the sex racket in Kerala, India, in her best selling autobiography “Oru Laingigathozhilzhaliyude Atmakatha” (Autobiography of a Sex Worker) has cited many instances in which policemen not only exploited her but made her services “freely available” to politicians, to win their favor.

Sex Workers’ Forum is slowly gaining momentum in different parts of the world, though more often than not, like any vulnerable and marginalized segment in any society, sex workers take a beating in the face of established institutions—ironically, the police force in most cases.

14th February is the Valentine Day and  is a day dedicated to love and friendship. A day to express our love itself. However in India there has recently been talibanization of this day with moral policing and what not.

India traditionally is a country where women have enjoyed equal rights as men and played an important role in the society. There was no discrimination. Look at the images of  khajuraho and Konark, Look at the Ajantha Caves. We were much more advanced in our thinking and our views related to sex and friendship.  Love in our society was always been openly expressed. Kam sutra is a unique text and speaks volumes about our insight into sex. It all changed as we entered the mughal period. The mughals having never seen women in their true form caused devastation in India and this resulted in protecting our women within the four walls of our houses and taking away all their rights. The purdah tradition and hiding our women behind the veil started during that period. With India’s freedom it is time we gave our women equal status as men as we have done traditionally in our culture. There is nothing greatly western about Valentine’s Day. It is now accepted universally and living in this global village – certain things are best accepted with grace rather than fighting it and giving it undue importance that it does not deserve. Medindia received an interesting item from one of its members. We are not sure about who has actually fabricated this piece but all the same it is hilarious and has an India twist to it. The member’s piece ( Chitra) is as follows -

We in India can have a claim on every development. It is St.Valentine! !! day in the west. 

In spite of what you have been told by everyone, the truth is that Valentine’s Day originated hundreds of years ago, in India, and to top it all, in the state of Gujarat !!!
 
It is a well-known fact that Gujarati men, specially the Patels, continually mistreat and disrespect their wives (Patelianis) . One fine day, it happened to be the 14th day of February, one brave Patelani, having had enough “torture” by her husband, finally chose to rebel by beating him up with a Velan or Belan (rolling pin to make chapattis). Yes….the same Velan which she used daily, to make chapattis for him…. only this time, instead of the dough, it was the husband who was flattened.
 
This was a momentous occasion for all Gujarati women and a revolt soon  spread, like wild fire, with thousands of housewives beating up their  husbands with the Velan. There was an outburst of moaning – Chapatti-ed” husbands all over Anand and Amdavad.
 
The Patel men-folk quickly learnt their lesson and started to behave more respectfully with their Patelanis. 

Thereafter, on 14th February every year, the womenfolk of Gujarat would beat up their husbands, to commemorate that eventful day – the wives having the satisfaction of beating up their husbands with the Velan and the men having the supreme joy of submitting to the will of the women they loved.
 
 Soon The Gujju men realized that in order to avoid this ordeal they  need to present gifts to their wives….they brought flowers and  sweets. This is how the tradition – Velan time – began.
 
 As Gujarat fell under the influence of Western culture, the ritual  soon spread to Britain and many other Western countries, specifically,  the catch words ‘Velan time’ !!! In course of time, their foreign  tongues, this got anglicized to ‘Belantime or Velantime’ and then to ‘Valentine’. 
 
And thereafter, 14th of February, came to be known as Valentine’s Day  and now you know the true story of Valentine’s Day.Cheers!

From Chitra We need to change our attitude and this is an interesting quote from — Katharine Hepburn  – “We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the friends, the teachers – but never blame yourself. It’s never your fault. But it’s always your fault, because if you wanted to change you’re the one who has got to change.”

One of Nature’s powerful anti-oxidants immune system boosters, and anti-aging hormones, MELATONIN-a natural substance-has been researched to be safe and free from serious side effects. Not a prescription drug, it is inexpensive and available in most health food stores. The latest medical findings point out the many possibilities in using this amazing hormone:

• Slow down the aging process
• Improve sleep
• Boost our natural defenses against carcinogens, stress and other external toxins
• Relieve depression and other mood disorders

Inhibit the development of cancer and act as an effective cancer treatment

• Reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke
  Stem the progress of Alzheimer’s disease

Ever since Howard Stein kicked off the virgin-for-sale auction of 22-year-old pseudonymous Natalie Dylan, the world seems to be spinning topsy turvy for people who are curiously watching the mounting momentum of what started as perhaps, a fundraiser for her higher education and has now become the world’s biggest publicity stunt, ever.

The lady in question argues that since “we live in a capitalistic society why shouldn’t I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?” Reactions to news of the sale are mixed. Some watch in shocked silence. Some are frantically bidding in a race to “deflower her.” Some others of both sexes are indignant about this media hype and question the lady’s self-worth. There is a segment of the global society watching the business potential of sex- trafficking— not to mention the allied returns from media publicity, if handled well. Book publishers and Hollywood movie makers are queuing up for her real-life story. The latest bid price for Natalie Dylan’s virginity is a whopping 2.6 million pounds. The young lady has certainly given a new twist to the maxim, “Ask and it shall be given.”

Now that information is available worldwide with simple clicks on a TV remote or a keyboard, very young people all over the world, who are at a very vulnerable age and sometimes lacking direction, cling to conflicting role models—be it the charismatic Barack Obama or the pseudonymous Natalie Dylan, presented by world media.

Apart from the extended debate on morality and ethical values involved in Natalie Dylan’s auctioning, in developing countries with traditional societies where sex education is still taboo, such media hype on sex can seriously encourage sex-trafficking and increase the incidence of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Transcendental Meditation techniques may reduce ADHD

A promising new study published in a reputed online journal states that the Transcendental Meditation technique may be an effective and safe non-pharmaceutical aid for treating ADHD among students.

A sample group of middle school students with ADHD who were meditating twice a day in school were taken for the study and after three months, researchers found that over 50 percent reduction in stress and anxiety and improvements in ADHD symptoms.

Significant improvements after transcendental meditation

Sarina J. Grosswald, Ed.D., a George Washington University-trained cognitive learning specialist and lead researcher on the study said that “The children showed significant improvements in attention, working memory, organization, and behavior regulation after the in-school meditation routine began. Grosswald said that “teachers reported they were able to teach more, and students were able to learn more because they were less stressed and anxious.”

Transcendental meditation techniques reduces stress

Prior research shows ADHD children have slower brain development and a reduced ability to cope with stress. “Stress interferes with the ability to learn and it shuts down the brain,” said William a clinical neuropsychologist and co-author of the study. So it stands to reason that the TM technique which reduces stress and organizes brain function would reduce ADHD symptoms.

A $2 million grant from the David Lynch Foundation (DavidLynchFoundation.org), will facilitate a third TM-ADHD study that would fully investigate the effects of the technique on ADHD and other learning disorders.
 Benefits of meditation/meditation therapy

In developing countries like India, folks of the older generation squarely blame the attitude of “modern” wives for not working hard enough to make marriage meaningful. 

Women’s liberation has undoubtedly given a new status and orientation to women’s lives all over the world. But some elders in Indian families firmly believe that emancipated modern women have frequent ego clashes with their spouses and in-laws and that can be dertrimental to families in the long run.

With changing social mores women are financially independent these days. Media reports show that women in developing countries are getting more aware of their independence, their sexuality and their right to express themselves or fulfilling a need. This prospect is sending panic waves in some quarters that a woman may become involved with the sympathetic “other” who is not a spouse, if she has an unresolved grudge against the spouse. 

Shaking legs or restless leg syndrome (RLS) can be cured with proper evaluation, diagnosis and treatment says Dr Sunil Sharma, Indian-origin director, Sleep Medicine Research, University of South Carolina.

What is shaking leg syndrome or RLS?

RLS (restless legs syndrome) or the shaking legs syndrome is a real medical condition that can cause pain, frustration and exhaustion. It affects up to10% of the world population.

RLS results in an irresistible urge to move the legs, which is often accompanied by unusual or unpleasant sensations in the legs that may be described as crawly, creeping, tugging, or pulling. RLS can severely disrupt sleep and reduce quality of life because it most often occurs in the evening,

What causes RLS?

Researchers believe that RLS is likely to have different causes that may overlap. We do know that while RLS often runs in families, it also sometimes appears as the result of another condition.

A substantial number of women develop RLS during pregnancy. In addition, peripheral neuropathy, anemia, low iron levels, ends stage renal disease with dialysis, folic acid deficiency are all associated with RLS. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) may also be associated with RLS.

What are the Symptoms?

You have a strong urge to move your legs, which you may not be able to resist. The need to move is often accompanied by uncomfortable sensations. Some words used to describe these sensations include: creeping, itching, pulling, creepy-crawly, tugging, or gnawing. Your RLS symptoms start or become worse when you are resting. The longer you are resting, the greater the chance the symptoms will occur and the more severe they are likely to be. Your RLS symptoms get better when you move your legs. The relief can be complete or only partial but generally starts very soon after starting an activity.

Relief persists as long as the motor activity continues. Your RLS symptoms are worse in the evening especially when you are lying down. Activities that bother you at night do not bother you during the day.

What treatments are available?

There are many non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical therapies that help ease RLS symptoms. In addition to the four common drug classes that offer help for RLS, (dopaminergic agents, sedatives, anticonvulsants, and pain relievers), Benzodiazines are found very effective,

Other options available are as follows

You and your doctor can:

• Check for a vitamin or iron deficiency.

• Find an exercise schedule and physical activities that help you deal with RLS.

• Find activities to keep your mind

• Engaged when RLS presents itself.

• Discuss eliminating alcohol and

• Caffeine from your diet.

• Look at your diet to assure it is healthy and balanced.

• Identify habits and activities that worsen your RLS symptoms.

• Implement a program of good sleep habits.

• Dr Sunil Sharma’s advice to RLS patients is to improve sleep schedule and reduce the intake of alcohol, caffeine and tobacco, besides medication.

• A cold compress and massage of the affected parts can also help ease the painful sensation.

• For those seeking help, the US-based Restless Leg Syndrome Foundation offers online advice.

With proper evaluation, diagnosis and treatment, RLS can be cured.

While explaining the risks of poor diet and a lack of exercise an online campaign that lets you build a personalised ‘Yoobot’ has been hailed a success.

The site has had more than 500,000 hits in the two weeks since it launched, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said and more than 200,000 Yoobots have been created.

The site was created by BHF in response to a report that showed almost three-quarters of eight to 15-year-olds were not aware that a junk food-laden diet could potentially shorten their life.

“It’s fantastic to see so many kids having fun while getting life-saving information about heart health at the same time said Betty McBride, director of Policy and Communications at the BHF said:.”

Once you have created your Yoobot, you can set a diet and exercise regime for it to see how it develops over time and what kind of health problems it could encounter.

The Yoobot is an online game (yoobot.co.uk) which allows children to play with their future, helping them understand the long term effects of a poor diet.

Users create their own Yoobot – a mini version of themselves that they can personalise with an uploaded photograph.

The choices they make for their Yoobot, from the food it eats, to the exercise it does, have a direct impact upon the lifespan and wellbeing of their mini-me. The Yoobot has many appealing and not-so appealing habits – from break dancing to breaking wind.

The Yoobot doesn’t just live on the website, it talks to its creator throughout the day using SMS and e-mail. It will complain if it’s hungry, ask for junk food and generally make itself a part of the user’s life.

BHF Director of Prevention and Care Mike Knapton said: “Today’s junk food generation can’t see beyond the burger box. They are missing the fact that eating unhealthily can have dire consequences on their long-term health.

“The Yoobot is an innovative way for children to explore the effects of eating a diet of junk food. The clock is ticking on the obesity time bomb and it is now more important than ever for children to be educated enough to take control of their diets.”

To join the Yoobot revolution go to www.-yoobot.co.uk

Do you want to help explain the effects of healthy or unhealthy eating and lifestyles to children – while having lots of fun yourself!? Then have a look at Yoobot.

Yoobot lets you create a ‘mini you’ which involves creating an animated version of yourself. You upload a photograph of yourself and Yoobot asks you to highlight your eyes, mouth and the shape of your face and build. Then at a mouse-click your Yoobot is ‘hatched’.

Once born then you can plan the hatchlings daily routine; breakfast, dinner, tea and play activities and exercise. These daily routines then can be analysed – especially through a ‘Time Warp’ function which will reveal the possible effects of that lifestyle on your Yoobot.

I created the Duffybot and stuffed him full of a diet of cakes, buns and cola along with a strict exercise regime of watching TV and listening to music. I’m dreading to see how Duffybot turns out at age 70 – if indeed he survives that long – because I’ve grown quite fond of the handsome chap!

The British Heart Foundation have created Yoobot and does make some qualifications about it which are reproduced below, but this is a novel way to engage children on healthy living issues! It allows children to experiment with a range of diets and lifestyle and could be one of the ways that child obesity issues might be more effectively tackled.

“Yoobot is designed to allow a child to experiment on their mini version of themselves with a range of diets and exercise regimes. The nutritional content and physical benefits of exercise are modeled on real data in order to give the experience a degree of realism. However, in order to clearly link certain actions with health implications we have exaggerated reality in order to emphasise the key points we would like users to understand. We have also had to simplify risk factors for heart disease, and to some extent alter the progression of the process of heart disease in order to not dilute the message of healthy eating and physical activity. The Yoobot does not get heart failure, or angina for instance, neither does it die from accidents, suicide or other disease processes. Overall, the British Heart Foundation has endeavoured to make Yoobot an engaging and scientifically based educational tool.

Disclaimer: Yoobot is a game based in reality but some information has been exaggerated or simplified in order to get the key messages across clearly.” From www.yoobot.co.uk ‘Grown up stuff’

In developing countries like India, until very recently, infidelity was mainly seen as a prerogrative of the husband. There have been innumerable instances of adultery where a virtuous wife silently tolerated a straying husband, hoping and praying he would return to her. Great epics and legends like the ‘Silappadhikaram’ in Tamil, in South India, glorified the virtues of patience and chastity of women who waited for their straying husbands to return to the fold. According to the legend, Kannagi waited patiently while her husband Kovalan romanced the dancer Madhavi and later welcomed him with open arms when he returned to his senses and his wife.

With changing social mores, education and emancipation of women to a certain extent, some women in India are now beginning to question the rationale behind glorifying the silently suffering wife who endures her husband’s infidelity and accepts it as a matter of his right. Especially in the wake of more and more innocent and ignorant wives getting infected with AIDS by their HIV positive husbands who contract the infection from sex workers and pass on the infection to their offspring. Moreover, going by media reports, some women are now more aware of their sexuality and their right to express themselves and have their needs fulfilled, so the gender gap is beginning to narrow as far as infidelity is concerned.

Yoobot the free online game designed by ‘The British Heart Foundation’ shows children how their food choices and how much they exercise affect their life span and general health.

The charity has launched a website feauturing Professor Gunter von Gunter who encourages kids to create a virtual version of themselves by playing the game.

The British Heart Foundation is head over heels in making the kids opt for salads instead of burgers. The charity explains in their website how the food choices of children affect them in the long run.

Overall in allowing children to watch the future unfold before their eyes by playing the game it is hoped that children would be encouraged to make healthier lifestyles from an early age.

The British heart foundation’ has launched this mission as at present one third of the children’s population are obese and two thirds of children are predicted to be obese by 2050.

Utilizing our sense of smell aptly and ably can have a profound impact on our physical and emotional state. Aromatherapy for stress relief has achieved ever-growing popularity because of this reason.

Aromatherapy for stress relief is a holistic therapy that involves the use of natural essential oils in promoting physical and emotional well-being. Such essential oils derived from natural plants has a calming effect on the central nervous system. Often aromatherapy is used in conjunction with other holistic practices such as acupuncture or therapeutic massage during which the essential oils are either massaged into the skin are placed under the nose for maximum effect.

Using aromatherapy for stress relief is quite common in spas across the world. But it is also offered through holistic professionals who practice aromatherapy in combination with other techniques or by itself. As more and more people find relief through non-traditional approaches such as aromatherapy for stress relief, western medicine has had to sit up and take notice, conceding that such practices may in fact do quite a bit of good in lowering blood pressure and easing depression.

Some of the more commonly used essential oils in aromatherapy for stress relief include sandalwood, lavender, jasmine, rose, and eucalyptus.

Physical and emotional responses to stress vary from person to person; and successful methods for eradicating that stress vary as well. While one person may find relief in a good workout at the gym, another may need a more “hands-on” approach. Aromatherapy for stress relief can be a wonderful way to take a break from the craziness of life and spend a few moments alone; often that is enough to release stress and keep it at bay.

Angelina Jolie showed off her new tattoos during her much-hyped visit to New York, at the New York Film Festival screening of her new film, Changeling as reported by The Telegraph. To commemorate the birth of Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline Angelina Jolie has decided to change by getting two more tattoos etched onto her left arm.

The two lines of blue script on her upper left arm detail the longitudinal and latitudinal location of Nice, where Knox and Vivienne were born in July.

They’re not the only coordinate tattoos Angelina Jolie has – in fact; she’s a long-time proponent of them. Angelina Jolie’s arm also bears the coordinates of the birthplace of Maddox, the birthplace of Zahara, the birthplace of Shiloh Nouvel, the birthplace of Pax Thien and the exact location of where Angelina Jolie decided to steal Brad Pitt away from Jennifer Aniston forever.

This may be a sweet gesture but you shouldn’t be fooled.! Angelina Jolie basically uses the tattoos as proof of purchase for her adopted kids. This way it’s much easier for her to return them if one of them goes defective.

But if Angelina Jolie keeps collecting babies at the rate she’s going, and if she insists on having their birth locations tattooed on her arms after each one, the poor woman’s going to need an arm extension put in before Christmas.

From the moment we are awake till the time we go to bed, our brain is constantly learning, processing, registering and retaining information or inputs from the environment- basically what we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Since it happens automatically and easily, we may not even pause to think how information is processed.

Read this insight about how we learn and retain information.

Learning – Registering

83% by sight

11% by sound

3.5% by smell

1.5% by touch

1% by taste


Retention

10% of what we read

20% of what we hear

30% of what we see

50% of what we see and hear

70% of what we discuss

90% of what we say and do

Often, during the course of our professional and personal lives, there come situations when we cannot help but point out mistakes. Criticisms are never welcome, but we can soften the blow with the following tips.

• Criticize in a friendly manner. Preferably allow a compliment to precede criticism.

• Respect the target of your criticism, always criticize privately

• Criticize the act not the person

• Offer a solution with the criticism, for instance while pinpointing a wrong also show what is right, so the communication remains positive and focused on the act rather than the person.

• Always end the criticism with a friendly note. A positive tone and body language is crucial to clear the air of any misunderstanding.